Connector.



H. A.v DOUGEAS. CONNECTOR'.v APPLICATION FILED A UG.9, NH2.v

l H r/ z l f Patejnted Apr. 6, 1915i' l l l. 4

HARRY A.. DOUGLAS, OF CHICAGQ, III'JLIISTOIS.l

CONNECTQR.

Application filed August 9, 1912;. SerialNo. 714,207'.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Beit known that I, HARRY A.'DoUGLs,.

citizen-of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of I1- linois', have invented a certain'new andv useful Improvement in Connectors, 'of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and eXactdescription', reference being had to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification.

My inventiont relates to connectors employed for associating translating. devices lwith sources of current.

.My invention. has a number of objects and advantages in view and the various features .and advantages thereof will be fully disclosed by reference to the preferred embodiment of "the invention shown by the accompanying drawing, but to which embodiment the invention is not to be limited.

thedrawing `Figure l is a side elevaltion'fo a connector made vin accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view online 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 4c of Fig. l; Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of v the structure as it appears in Fig. l; Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6 6 of Fig. 5, some parts being shown in complete plan; Fig. 7 is a view illustrating steps of manufacture which I preferably employ; and Fig. 8 illustrates a detail of construction.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout the dierent figures. l

One feature of the invention resides in the mechanism employed for controlling the electrical association vof two terminals a b which may, for example, be respectively connected with a source of current and a translating device or a conductor c leading to such translating device, though the invention is lnot to be limited tothe association of the contacts a b. 'One of these contacts, the contact b, ispressed toward the other by a spring d, one contact being preferably countersunk while the other is partially tapered whereby thorough ergagement between the contacts "at their adjoining ends is assured. Some separating device is employed to operate longitudinally of the contacts a 7) for the purpose of causing these contacts to become separated when it is desired to open the circuit. This device may be in the form of a rod e of insulating material operating in a speccation of Letters Eatent.

Patented Apr. 6, 17915.

bore or channel that is formed in the con- ,tact a for receiving; it, this bore constituting a structural characteristic of the Contact a that guides the rod c in its movement longitudinally of said contact. Some suitable means is employed for operating vthis rod to cause it to move longitudinally of the contact a for the purpose of forcing it against the contact bto move this contact b away from the contact a against the force of the` sprmgd. A rod f, movable transversely of thedirection of movement of the rod e, may

be employed for the purpose. This rodi has seats. j" f2, the seat4 f2 permitting suiiicient rearward movement of the rod ye to permit the spring alto force the contact b into firm electrical connection withl the contact a. Theaseat f1 issulfciently shallow to hold the' rode in a position in which said rod is suficiently thrust out to force the contact Z2 awa-y from the Contact a. v The adjacentwalls of the seats f1 f2 are inclined as illustrated in Fig. 6 so that the rod f may readily be moved into either of its alternative positions in one of which thev contacts a b are separated and in the other of which the contacts a b are ineengagement. In the I.

vpreferredembodiment of the invention the contact a has a companion contact g, the contacts a and g being mounted in a cylindrical base portion or plug of insulating material that carries a bayonet pin `or pro# ljection z', this bayonet pin projecting at its ends beyond the base portion h so as to' be receivable Within bayonet slots 7c formed in a supportingshell Z by outwardly bulging the shell. .Thus the base h. is insertible Within and removable from the shell Z upon being suitably turned as will be well understood by those skilled in the art. The contacts a and g are Aupon opposite sides of the axis of the base'h. Iitherto it was proposed to modify the construction of the bayonet slots in a manner to permit rotation of the sired function without disturbing the mount-` ing of said base. As the invention is embodied the contact m is also rovided with a spring a for forcing it agamst its oppos- Q ingr contact g., The contacts b and mare cesses 'formed th'erein.

shown as constituting spring pressed terminals ofconducting cords c though the inventipn" not to' be restricted to this association o f these contacts.

Another feature of the inventiony resides in the Vconstruction illustrated in'Figs. 5 and.

8. `In forming contacts b and m little burs or minor, projections o are likely to be formed upon theends of said contacts and where these ends have butt engagement with other .contante heating of the equipment is likely to result owing to the reduced contact at 0. It is one object of my invention to provide means for preventing the projections o from having engagement with the opposing contacts and to this end I provide such opposing contacts with bores for receiving the projections 0,' the bore of the contacta being suitablev for this purpose while an especially provided bore p `in the contact g also 'serves the purpose. The mouths of these bores are desirably lflared while the opposing ends of the contacts are of correspondingtruncated cone formation whereby the area of contact lostl by the formation of the bores is replaced.

Another feature of the invention resides in the shell Z and the bayonet slots or re- This shell is provided with a flange g integrally formed therewith. portions thereof which are disposed longitudinally of the shell continued through the flange g, these portions of these bayonet slots being'in the ferm of outsetting depressions that are shaped in the cylindrical wall of the shell, the bayonet slots being in the foi-in of enlargements of the shell bore. The bayonet slots or recesses-do not extend through the shell and as the shellv and the flange are of integral formation there is no opportunity for leakage of moisture transversely of the shell through its cylindrical wall. Thus when the parts are assembled, as shown in Fig. 5, water does not have opportunity of finding its way through the shell except by passage longitudinally thereof through its bayonet slots and the ends of the shell, a possibility which is reduced to the minimum by the insulatl ing base la, which tightly fills one end of the shellv and the plug 1" of insulating m-aterial that carries the contacts b at the other end of' the shell. As the invention isremf bodied the Flug (l also serves to carry terminals s o conductors c, `these terminals carrying the springs d and n for 'the purpose which has been described. In order to reduce 'to the minimum the possibility of the` How of water'through thfl shell l the base i is made sufficiently long to projoctf'inwai'dly beyond Y'the bayonet recesses or slots lc.

Another feature ofy my invention relates l to the angle or elbowv joint, a form of which The bayonet slots c have the` is shown in Fi 1 and 5 and a stepin the manufacture ot which is illustratediin Fig.

`joint member l1., these two` members being mitered. One or two angle' rods or bolts u have sliding lit Within holes provided in the joint members l1. and t, one arm of each rod or bolt u beingreceived within one member While the remaining arms are received within the other member. The contacts a and g are in threaded engagement with adjacent ends of the bolts u and constitute preferred means whereby these bolts are held in xed connection with the joint member h. Terminals o are in threaded engagement with the arms of the bolts that are received by the joint member t and constitute preferred means Wherebythe bolts are held in fixed engagement with the latter joint member.` Asl `the invention is vp'referably practised the terminals o and the adjacent ends'of the bolts 'u are in normally fixed relation with the joint t while the contacts a and gare provided at tlieir'outer ends with screw-driver s ots (one being' in-l dicated at fw4 in Fig. 8) whereby these contacts may be screwed into and out of engagement with the" ends of the bolts u that are in sliding engagement with holes in the joint member li. By screwing the nuts a and g upon the corresponding ends of the bolts u the joint members l1, and t are drawn tightly together. The protecting sleeve cap :1: is screwed upon the outer end of the joint member t and is provided with a bore through which the conductors 1/ are passed for connection with the contacts '11. The circuit between ythe conductors y and the contacts a and 7 is traced vthrough the terminals v andthe rods u.

lVhile I have herein shown and particularly described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not wishto be limited to the precise details of construction shown nor to the employment of all the character'- istics in an electrical connector. I use the term. electrical connector in a broad sense as Ido not desire to limit the use of the device to a portion of a circuit comparatively remote from the source of current and the translating device supplied thereby, since it is obvious that the invention will be realized Without regard to the location of the contacts a b g m with` respect to the source of current and thetranslating device. In one View of the invention the contacts b and m may be saidto constitute terminals of a translating device and the contacts a and g may be said to constitute terminals of a. source of current.

Having thus described my invention I claim' as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent the following 1.V An electrical connector including two elinecl contacts; e spring for pressing one contact against the other, ,the latter contact having a channel; a rod operating in said channel for engaging the spring pressed Contact to move it out of electrical connection with the Contact having the channel; and a second rod movable longituflinally ol' itself and transversely of the direction of movement of the first rod and having seats of diering depths,' one for positioning the first rod to maintain the contacts in separation and the other to pei-Init the first rod to be so positioned that said spring `may effect engagement between the contacts.

'2. An electrical connector including two alined contacts; a spring for pressingcne contact against kthe other; a rofl operati? longitudinally of the ccntacs 'for engagin the spring pressed contact toniove it ont electrical connection WitliAits companion and afseconcl rofl movable longitudinally f itself and transversely of the (liiecsion v movement of the irst ioei ami. having sea of fliering depths, one for positioning if.. ifirst rofl to maintain tiie contacts in ration and the other to permit the tiret mi?. to be sopositionecl 'that ssicl spring may eect engagement between the' contactsn 'ln Witness Wlieeot', iierenntc subscribe my name this seventh day of August A. i912.

HARRY A. DGUGLA litnesses:

J. l". ROWENKAMP, Loma F. M13?. 

